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VINELAND — If Zygii Dobkowski could eat the same food every day, it would be pork.

Dobkowski, who is Polish, said he grew up on meals that were mostly pork dishes — especially the Sunday pork roast dinner cooked each weekend by his mother.

Dobkowski closes his eyes and draws in his breathe as if he’s smelling the roast pork meal.

“There’s nothing better than roast pig,” he said.

Now Dobkowski, a professional chef, is planning to open the Landis Pig Roast at 623 E. Landis Ave.

Dobkowski purchased the vacant, 3-story building from the city last week, according to Sandy Forosisky, the city’s director of redevelopment.

She said he was anxious to create a new restaurant along the city’s Restaurant Row area.

Dobkowski said his enthusiasm is fueled by the fact that there is no other roast pork restaurant in the area.

“No one could give me a pork sandwich around here. No one had it,” said Dobkowski.

He and his wife, Diane, said they plan to have the store open for business in the fall.

Roast pig, pulled pork, pork sandwiches and ribs will be for sale, he said. The idea of selling a roasted pig is not a new one, Dobkowski said. Many people have pig roasts for special events, he said.

Diane Dobkowski recalled how her family had to go to Philadelphia to get a roast pig for their daughter’s first Holy Communion reception.

“That was the closest we could find a whole roast pig,” she said.

Zygii Dobkowski, a resident of Egg Harbor Township, said he’s already contracted with Marcacci Meats about ordering pigs to roast. He said everything he puts on the menu will be homemade or locally grown, if possible.

“We’ll have sides of potato salad and cole slaw with every meal,” Dobkowski said.

“You will get plenty to eat here, lots of food,” he said.

The building at 623 E. Landis Ave., formerly Nu Jeru Records, is under renovation.

When Nu Jeru Records went out of business, the city took over the building, Forosisky said.

Forosisky said the purchase of the building completes the city’s Restaurant Row initiative, which offered loans to attract eateries to join the deli on East Landis Avenue.

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The CrepeMaker and Bain’s Deli on Landis Avenue were part of the city’s Restaurant Row initiative, but have since closed.

The Sweet Life Bakery, and Mori’s at Landis Theater are also included in Restaurant Row.

The Dobkowskis chose local contractor Leo Lopez of Leon Construction to renovate the inside and outside of the building. The new owner plans to have a copper facade outside, marble tiles at the base of the front wall and a neon pig in the front window.

The Dobkowskis plan to seat 40-45 people inside, and have a counter and takeout service.

They want to set up roasting ovens in the back of the store and the upstairs will include two, two-bedroom apartments.

“The building presents a lot of challenges because of its age,” said Lopez. “Right now it’s a matter of tearing down everything to the studs. There are three floors and I think this building was built back in the 1920s.”

The Dobkowskis, who also operate an apartment complex on East Park Avenue in Vineland, believe they’ll get customers by word of mouth.

“We will have roasters and a smoke house, where the pigs will be marinated for two days. We’ll have roasted pig sandwiches and not the small kind,” Zygii Dobkowski said.

His wife joked: “He always likes his plates full of food.”

Customer satisfaction is key to the success of a restaraunt, he said.

“When you treat people right, they come back,” he said.

Dobkowski said he knows food. He has worked for 27 years at the Atlantic Grill (formerly Prima Vera) restaurant at Caesars Hotel Casino in Atlantic City.

He said he’s worked in the Russian Tea Room in New York City, where he met John Lennon and wife Yoko Ono. He’s also worked in five star restaurants in Florida.

The local restaurant also is expected to employ a staff of four or five people. The owners plan to work at the restaurant.

“We’re going to try to stay busy and make a descent living. We don’t need to get rich on this. We just want to see it work,” he said.

He said a grand opening will be held in the fall and the restaurant will be available six days a week to start.

“If you want pig, I’ll make you pig. If you wake up at night and you want a pork sandwich, you’ll call and I’ll make it and send it to your house,” he said. “We are here to succeed and provide a good business to the community. We’ll do whatever it takes.”

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